Authors Note: I will be switching between flashback chapters to the present every few chapters. I wanted to include these because it will be important later on. I also know that people shit on Lyall. I know Remus had a complicated relationship with his father. I would too if my father said that werewolves were "soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death.", however, I think that since this was done before Remus was bitten that Lyall's perception changed. I know my opinion may not be the majority.
"Dora, what is going on?" Remus almost yells attempting to catch up to her flying down the stairs. "Slow down, you are going to trip down the stairs."
Tonks sticks her tongue out at him, trying her best to not trip on the landing. "I will tell you when we get to Sirius and James."
Sighing, he calls out to the silent, large house "Prongs, Padfoot"
"Moony?" He hears James' voice coming from the library
"There you go" the werewolf holds out his arm for her to continue walking towards the room. She smirks, rolling her eyes at him. "Coming"
Walking into the room, Tonks and Remus see Sirius sitting at the desk not facing the doorway and Harry and James sitting on the lounge chair playing wizard's chess, hearing James' exclaim for what must have been the fifth time by the tone of his voice, "Harry, you can not just move pieces when you want to" Not looking up from his concentration "You wanted something, Moony?
Tonks looks at him noticing he has his hands in his pants pockets looking directly at her as she addresses James, "Actually I was wanting to talk to you and Sirius."
Hearing his name, Sirius looks up from what he was writing and scowls noticing Remus standing behind Tonks. "Does Remus have to be involved with this discussion?"
"Yes, he does" Tonks sarcastically replies rolling her eyes, "this horse shit, Sirius. You have been friends since you were in school. Grow up."
"We have small ears in the room" Lily scolds Tonks as she enters the room with biscuits and some more tea, eyeing Remus, Tonks, and Sirius "I hope this next batch will go more smoothly."
"What is it you wanted to talk to us about?" James asks, grabbing a biscuit from the plate on the table in the middle of the room.
"I am guessing you have read the article in the Prophet about the rising number of wizards and witches that have been admitted to Mungos?" Tonks asks to lean on the edge of a table.
"I glanced at it," James admits not wanting to give away his piqued curiosity of this strange reason individuals were being admitted to St. Mungos.
"A few months ago, I was doing some research for a year-end paper I was writing on healing droughts throughout the Roman Empire. I ran across in my research a strange chapter on what was called Nosoi or daimones illness. At first, it was believed to be lore that one could not get ill due to daimones. However, in 20 BC, there began to be reports of witches and wizards who for two weeks were claiming to have coughing fits and a high fever. Then one morning, they wake to strange markings on their skin." Tonks explains biting into her second biscuit. "If my dad writes back soon, I will be able to confirm that this may be related."
"So you are guessing that this could be what was it, Noose illness?" Sirius asks, trying to understand what she was saying.
"I believe it may be. The strange markings are what made me do a double-take. Reading between the lines it seems like healers are unsure of what this is. Have you two heard anything at work that may be related?" Tonks asks getting to the point of why she wanted to discuss this with them in the room.
"There have been some interesting incidents reported to the ministry that have been happening recently" Sirius pipes up his interest "I can not tell you everything but there has been an influx of Vampires activity and an uproar with the merpeople. I have been assisting the department of magical creatures recently with the workload they have endured."
"Interesting" Tonks mutters to herself beginning to pace back and forth as Remus whispers something to himself. Then Tonks looks at the werewolf, "It all makes sense now." Remus looks up at her as if she could read his mind.
"Werewolves," they both say in unison before Tonks continues" That must be the third creature."
"Wait, hold up" Sirius comments, not fully understanding "Not only have you been secretly seeing my cousin for the last six months, but my best mate can also read her mind?"
"I guess we are on the same wavelength. I had asked Rem to explain this to me when I discovered it in the library at Hogwarts." Tonks smirks at Sirius addressing the room, "I did not expect him to be so knowledgeable about it till he told his father, he was once a world-renowned expert on dark creatures. The man is still respected for his studies and intellectual arguments about every little thing he presented to the public. His notes and writings are some of the best records on dark creatures in the modern era. Mostly because he was the only one actually writing anything down that was not a warning to stay away. It became my little side project to look more into his notes, among other things"
"Oh we know what the other things were" Sirius replies frustrated still not understanding why he of all people had to endure this.
Rolling her eyes, grabbing another biscuit from the plate, "Remus and I spent hours each night, going over his father's notes to determine if we could find anything about this mysterious illness…."
"It took us a while, as you three know, my father was meticulous about writing everything down." Remus takes over for her as she chews the biscuit. "We eventually found some notes from his travels to Scotland. He had discovered a hidden town where people were getting sick, standard cough, fever, and sweats. But each individual had the same strange markings on their skin. It was mentioned in the notes that the markings were unlike any other he had seen. They were too large for any local animals in the area. But each type of mark seemed to originate from some sort of beast he had yet to encounter. He grouped the infected people into two different groups based on the markings on their skin: lightning-shaped marks and scratches or bites. He interviewed the sick who told him that they have instances during the night mostly of not remembering anything. After tracking the individuals for two weeks. He observed them at night he determined that the individuals who had lightning-shaped marks gravitated towards the water and the individuals who had scratches or bite marks gravitated towards the forest near the town."
"How do you get merpeople and vampires from that, Remus?" James asks his curiosity piqued now
"I am just trying to play devil's advocate. Do you have any proof other than from Lyall's notes?" Lily asks trying her best to not sound like she is not believing them. Looking at Remus, "Was this before or after you were bitten, Remus?"
Tonks runs up to the room she is staying at, grabs the journal, runs back downstairs. Only tripping twice in the process. Looking at the first few pages, frowning. She had hoped it was before. "It was in 1966. A year after you were bitten." Walking up to him, she grabs his hand, squeezing it tightly.
"I do not care when he decided to do this research. It does not matter when. It only matters that it was done." Remus begins Tonks still holding his hand "My father has his faults, but he is still an expert."
"I didn't mean to insult your father. I just know you said he became obsessed with trying to find a cure for you. I wonder if this was one of those times." Lily addresses glancing between Remus and Tonks, just now noticing how Tonks seems to fit like a puzzle piece with Remus.
"Why do we not change the subject to something a little lighter" James suggests "What about discussing the latest Quidditch match between the United and Harpies."
Sirius and James start talking animatedly to each other. Tonks knew about the recent match but also Remus' talking about his father always unsettled him. She would rather sit here and hold his hand, then talk about Quidditch. Looking at Remus "Come outside with me?"
Sirius eyes their linked hands as Tonks pulls Remus through the door. He wonders if he should mention this in his letter to Andromeda.
Outside, they embrace as Tonks places her head on his chest. "I think I may have found a way to get people off our back about this" looking up at his face.
"What do you mean?" Remus asks, pulling her out of his embrace.
"My best friend." Tonks answers "His mom has always wanted us to get together. She has hinted at it the last few times I have been over. It has been rather awkward when I told her I was seeing some else." smirking.
"Since I believe you are talking about a man. I am guessing this is Charlie." Remus answers "Is he okay with this?"
"I have not asked him. However, it will get his mom off his back and Sirius off ours." Tonks elaborates then adds "I promise nothing will happen between us. Charlie is not interested in me that way…"
"Well, I do not know why?" Remus comments, chuckling kissing her on the forehead.
"Or anyone." Tonks continues to explain. "I will write to him to see if he is on board. He is leaving for his apprenticeship in Romania in a month."
Remus hums trying to process this in his brain. Tonks is going to pretend to be in a fake relationship with Charlie who is her age and not a werewolf. However, if it would get Sirius off his back. He did not like hiding things from him, but he did not know what else to do.
"I wanted to talk to you about this before I did it. I did not want to make you feel uncomfortable for any reason." Tonks continues pulling on her sleeve nervously. "I do not want to do this. I want to be able to openly kiss you and hold your hand. I just think we will have to keep this a secret for the time being."
"Yes, Luperca landing on your truck was not how I expected anyone to find out about this," Remus replies running a hand through his sandy brown hair. "Nor did I expect Lily to read a letter I had left in the library."
"Which letter was it?" Tonks asks, covering her mouth. One of those letters got a little out of hand. They had written letters back and forth during the Spring holiday break from school. Suddenly, having the urge to be close to her, to mark her as his own. "The one about the room of requirement."
Tonks' mischievous eyes meeting his."We only had to meet in the room of requirement because McGonagall almost caught us."
"It would have been worth it," Remus smirks putting his arms around her neck. He still to this day, had no idea why he would put everything on the line for this clumsy but beautiful girl. Looking at her, as if for the first time, he realized now she was not a girl. She was always a woman.
Pushing the werewolf's arms off "No, it would not have been. You could have lost your position at Hogwarts."
"Well, now you have graduated. No one found out. We can do this for real." Remus whispers in her ear. "Discreetly of course. I am fantastic at silencing charms. "
That letter could wait, Tonks thinks to herself as Remus slams the door to his room running his hands through her bubblegum pink hair.